Forget rocket science, space researchers are at the heart of an extraordinary legal battle over privacy. The case will help to clarify whether the US federal government can legally perform extensive background checks on employees doing non-classified work. It could also affect NASA鈥檚 ability to attract top scientists.
In 2005, , a planetary scientist at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, led a group of 28 colleagues in objecting to background checks introduced by JPL as part of efforts to beef up homeland security.
The group sued, claiming that the checks were 鈥渋ntrusive鈥� because they gave NASA permission to collect information 鈥� such as a person鈥檚 medical history and sexual habits 鈥� which was unnecessary for workers at the laboratory, who use satellites and robotic spacecraft to explore the solar system. 鈥淭hey wanted to know who we slept with,鈥� says Nelson. 鈥淲e thought that was off-limits, out of bounds.鈥�
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Space shuttle approach
In 2007, a lower court issued an injunction blocking JPL from requiring employees to assent to the checks. The court rejected the broad privacy complaints but said a specific question on (pdf) asking employees to describe treatments they had received for illegal drug use was unconstitutional, as was one on a (pdf) asking them to disclose 鈥渄erogatory as well as positive information鈥� about employees.
The government appealed and the case was (pdf). During the hearing, government attorney claimed that a JPL badge grants a worker access to many NASA facilities and with it the ability to come 鈥渨ithin 6 to 10 feet鈥� of the space shuttles.
Nelson disputes this and says he has demanded that NASA retract the statement. 鈥淭here is no way we can get within 6 to 10 feet of the space shuttle with the ID card that a JPL employee carries,鈥� he says.
Talent threat
The Supreme Court could take months to rule. If upheld, the checks could affect NASA鈥檚 ability to hire and retain scientists.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to lose folks,鈥� says plaintiff Dennis Byrnes, a JPL engineer. Nelson agrees: 鈥淣ASA will be losing top-notch scientific talent. They鈥檒l just choose to work somewhere else.鈥�
A NASA spokesman in Washington DC declined to comment directly on the ramifications of the case but told New 杏吧原创 that the background checks are not unique to the agency and that there are 鈥渕any scientists across the agency and the federal government who have already gone through the required security procedures鈥�.
